1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to virtual imaging and, in particular, to a method and system for simulating to one or more individual observers a view through a window using a display screen.
2. Description of Related Art
The rapid increase in quality and reduction in cost of flat-screen display technologies over the past several years have opened up many new novel applications for flat-panel displays. One such application is the use of flat-panel displays as virtual windows. This has been described as a flat-panel display built within what appears to be a conventional window frame, with the flat-panel display showing desired scenes. This technique provides a static image through which one can create a virtual view from a high resolution digital image of a real-world scene. When built with high resolution display panels, such an image can be quite convincing to the stationary observer. However, as soon as the observer moves, the window loses its appearance of reality due to lack of parallax shift and field of view changes that would be observable when looking out a real window.